Overview of the Colonial Confederacy


                  The Colonial Confederacy was formed a few years after the end of the 1st Interplanetary War in 2180 A.D. by the theocracy of Uranus and the anti-corporate Laissez-Faire economic state of Neptune, and the Libertarians of Pluto. This new alliance of rather different governments was based on a combination of both the principles of Islamic religious morality and on the secular ideologies of Austrian Libertarianism.
                  Essentially this new form of government was called a Libertarian-Theocracy which to many chroniclers seemed like a contradiction in terms. In theory, this new form of government was to combine the principles of individual inalienable or natural rights, Laissez-faire economics, and fundamentalist-religious morality. Under its constitution all peoples were considered equal in so far as their inalienable right to life, libery, privacy, equal protection under the law, and the ownership of property, including weapons of any and all kinds. At first skeptics from the other Terran nations felt this "keeping and bearing of arms" to be somewhat insane, however, despite the dangers to the safety of their citizenry it proved to be of considerable value. There literally is a "Battlerobot behind every stellar pebble " in the colonies of the Outer Sphere of Sol and the Kuper Belt. The Confederate government became the center of religious study and thought throughout the Interplanetary Era of the 2180s. It’s strange mix of fundamentalist Abrahmic morality(a combination of the major Terran religions of Islam, Christian, and Hebrew moral laws), and the other major Terran religions of the 2170s (Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Taoist, and Hopi)--brought into the Confederacy by pilgrims from the inner sphere just after the 1st Interplanetary War--made the Confederacy a center of mysticism and occult sciences.
                  The Colonial Confederacy officially allied itself with the Neo-Hebrews of Saturn in 2184 A.D. after the Ceres Conflict had ended in an effort to tip the scales of power away from the Grand Duchy of Ceres and their new allies--the Kolchak faction of the Union of Solar Republics--in the aftermath of the USR civil erupting in late 2183 AD due to the meddling by the Grand Duchy. The strife in the USR drew the Colonial Confederacy into it as well as the Neo-Hebrews and thus sparked the Outer Sphere War of 2184 AD. The Outer Sphere War dragged on into 2185 AD with the dissolution of the USR and the formation of the Union of Sovereign Solar Republics under the rule of a Supreme Council that held one member of the Principality of Altair (the successor state to the Grand Duchy of Ceres), one member of the Alpha Centauri Protectorate (now under Lady Furrier's control), and one member from the Alkaidian Republic (the new Zhukovist colonies).
                  The significance of the official seal of the Colonial Confederacy should not be lost on the casual observer. Hidden in plain sight is the brown dwarf companion star of Sol: Tyche. This was the home of the Council on Stellar Relations and several major Colonial Confederacy bases. The placement of this dwarf star at the center of the seal is not by accident. It shows that the real seat of power of the Colonial Confederacy was in orbit around the brown dwarf (on the largest of the rocky planets that orbited the tiny star). It is interesting in hindsight since the shadow government founded by LaGrange heavily influenced the Confederacy from this location via the Council on Stellar Relations even though they had no direct control over the Colonial Confederacy.
                  The Colonial Confederacy armed forces were the major adversary of the Union of Solar Republics throughout the Outer Sphere War of 2184-2185 AD and the initial years of the 2nd Interplanetary War of the mid-2190s. The Colonial Confederacy had relied heavily on the Hebrew government during the Ceres Conflict in 2183 but had moved away from that dependency during the Outer Sphere War as they developed a more formidable military and technology base around Pluto. The Confederacy's armed forces are broken into three main tiers. The Galactic Colonial Command or GCC, Galactic Exploration Command or GEC, and Galactic Space Command or GSC.
                  The GCC consists of the Terraforming Authority and Colonial Guard that was formed in early 2184 in response to the mass transportation of Alphonse Zhukov and his supporters from the Alpha Centauri star system to the solar system of Alkaid. The lack of suitable crews for the colonization ships from the Neo-Hebrews caused the Pluto Libertarian forces to use their own ships for the large-scale colonial fleets for the colonists and refugees wishing to flee the USR civil war. The Terraforming Authority that grew out of this need was given charge of the colony ship fleets under Confederacy control while in transit to a suitable planet, and the development of that planet into a useable biosphere once the colony ships arrived. The Colonial Guard consists of the military warships and mecha assigned to protect the colony ships during their journey to the new worlds and as a temporary defense force until the colony is able to defend itself.
                  The GEC consists of the Space Patrol, Frontier Scouts, and Planetary Survey Authority. The Space Patrol is made up of military warships, usually destroyers, frigates, and cruisers, whose mission is to secure safe trade and travel routes between the Colonial Confederacy's Outer Colonies within The Local Group of Stars. The Space Patrol’s primary purpose is anti-space pirate operations. The Frontier Scouts are made up of small specially outfitted escorts, corvettes, and cutters, whose mission is to scout for potential new colony worlds and perform intelligence operations against the enemies of the Colonial Confederacy (namely the USR and Principality of Altair). The Planetary Survey Authority is charged with scouting out travel routes to ensure safe passage and detect any navigational hazards. The PSA also surveys star systems and planets which have been deemed a possible candidate for colonization. The Planetary Survey Authority normally uses specially outfitted cruisers and even battleships or carriers which have been converted for the purposes of the PSA.
                  The Galactic Space Command is the largest branch of the Confederacy's Armed Forces. It consists of the Strategic Space Command (SSC), System Defense Forces (SDF), and Planetary Defense Forces (PDF). The SSC is made up of the Space Navy and Space Marines. The mission of the Space Navy is to provide offensive and defensive capability to the worlds under the jurisdiction of the Confederacy. The Space Marines mission is planetary assault, and occupation of enemy worlds. The SDF is made up of the Space Port Authority, Orbital Navy, and Stellar Marshals. The Space Port Authority is responsible for the protection of space stations, and space ports on planets, moons, planetoids, and asteroids throughout Confederacy controlled space. The Orbital Navy is responsible for the defense of the planets of the Confederacy, including planets which are not habitable but, have some value, military or otherwise. The Orbital Navy consists of interplanetary craft of various sizes and their ship classes range from orbital-cutters to full fledged Space Control Ships like the Glorious class Dreadnaught. The Stellar Marshals are the Confederacy’s police force. They are responsible for maintaining peace within the CC and often work with the Space Patrol against pirates, smugglers, pornographers, and other criminal elements within the CC. The Planetary Defense Forces consist of the Aerospace, Naval, and Ground militia forces which consist of every able-bodied individual (male or female) who is between the ages of 18 and 65. The weapons of the militia forces are standardized but differ from planet to planet.
                  Interestingly, the Colonial Confederacy was a true classless society. There was no distinction between military and civilian, rich and poor, politician or common worker, all were equal and had the same rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities. The process by which this state of equality came about in this society was organic, meaning it was not forced. From many historians' viewpoints this equilibrium within this society should not have existed, yet it did. Outside of criminal elements from other stellar-nations, crime within the Confederacy by its citizens was almost non-existent.
                  Officially the Colonial Confederacy consisted of three major powers and each of these planetary governments were responsible for a different aspect of the Confederacy societal structure. I shall deal with each of these three governments independently below.





Overview of THE NEPTUNE CONSORTIUM:

                  This colony was founded in 2170 A.D. by UNSC gas miners (individuals who convert the gases of gas giant type planets into usable chemicals) that had unofficially separated from the Solar Empire after the 1st Interplanetary War started and supply convoys stopped coming out to them.
                  The colonists living in the Altas class ships (converted to space stations) were in orbit around the two moons of Neptune (Triton, and Nereid). These eight craft had adequate hydroponics, resource recycling, and animal stock for the 1800 crew members of each ship. However, there were four additional Atlas-type space stations orbiting the main planet that were gas refineries that did not produce food. Mandatory rationing went into effect in late 2170 and the colony would have been abandoned if not for the interference of Lady Isabeau Furrier in early 2171 AD. The "Goddess" of the Solar Empire had sent ten additional ships (all refit to agricultural ships/orbital farms). These ships arrived in June of 2171 and saved the former UNSC Neptune Colonies from extinction, however it also caused a schism to form among the various space stations between the three major stellar bodies (Neptune, Triton, and Nereid). These three groups became independent colonies that traded with each other, but were under different governments formed by their respective populations.
                  The Consortium itself was not founded until some eleven years later with the arrival of massive numbers of refugees from the ashes of the 1st Interplanetary War. By that time the inhabitants of the former UN gas mining bases had built two large domed city bases on Triton and one on Nereid, as well as a large single-wheel space station around Neptune that was sporting the beginnings of a dome city on top of its central hub. These city bases housed considerable manufacturing facilities, agricultural domes, and heavy mining operations. It is unclear to our intelligence sources as to how this feat was accomplished, but what is know is that the colonies of the gas mining operations that would later become the Neptune Consortium flourished during the 1st Interplanetary War because they were left to their own devices. After the refugees flooded into their space in the late 2170s, the independent colonies of Neptune found themselves forced into merging with one another again and the Consortium was formed in 2182 AD.
                 During the later half of the 22nd Century, the main product produced by the Neptune Consortium was radioactive fuels for spacecraft. This made Neptune a valuable resource for the Colonial Confederacy when the Neptune Colonies joined them in 2180 A.D. prior to their forming the Consortium.






Overview of THE PLUTO REPUBLIC:

                 This republic consists of Pluto, its companion Charon, and several small planetoids in the Kuiper belt. This colony started as multiple independent ore-mining operations of the Solar Empire, which unified into a loose consortium during the middle-years of the 1st Interplanetary War when all contact with the Solar Empire government was lost in 2173 AD. Within the bowels of Pluto and the other small dwarf planets, large scale underground bases had been built for the sole purpose of providing a safe haven for humanity in the event of an alien invasion of the Sol system. This loose consortium was contacted by Lady Furrier's personal attaché, Alisa Furrier, in 2175 AD with the proposal for a new liberty-based society to act as the governmental seat of the Outer Sphere of the Sol system since the war against the Earth Federal Republic and other Inner Sphere powers had essentially been lost. Even though their ties with the UNSC and the Solar Empire had been cut two years prior, the Pluto mining bases welcomed the Lady-Chairman and her armada of fleeing Solar Empire warships in mid 2175 AD. The actual foundation of the Pluto Libertarian Republic was not finalized until after the 1st Interplanetary War had ended and all hostilities stopped in 2179 AD. Lady Furrier, now the first President of the Republic, waited until she was sure her new government would not have to fight before she set her plan into motion. The first step of Lady Furrier's new agenda was to scrap and then rebuild the bulk of the Solar Empire fleet of ships she had brought with her to Pluto. This was a daunting task, but one that was simplified by the fact that no one was looking for her or her armada due to the drain the war had put on the powers of the Inner Sphere.
                 The new Plutonian government was based on “Free Market economics” made popular by the two major economic philosophers of Capitalism: Ludwig VonMises, and Adam Smith. Furrier's collection of military installations took to their new role as a functional republic very quickly after 2179 A.D. due to the fact that much of their duties surrounded the erection of a new fleet of Mark-III Ironclads based on the Kiev class space battleship. The first squadrons of Republican Space Navy spacecraft would not set sail for the first time until early 2180 when frigates and corvettes began patrolling the Outer Sphere of the Sol system for any Grand Duchy or USR vessels that dared to violate their space. It was during this time that President Furrier put her plan into action for a unified Outer Sphere. She managed to unify the Neptune Consortium and Uranus Theocratic Republic with her own nation into what would become known as the Colonial Confederacy in 2180 AD. The driving catalyst for this union was an incident near Neptune that became known as the Triton Gambit in October of 2180 AD. This incident started when a flotilla of Earth Federal Republic warships attempted to lay claim to the Neptune gas mining stations as spoils of war. The result was a confrontation of a battle group of UNSC Byzantine class frigates and a handful of AS-03 shuttles against the technologically superior force of EFSN craft. Naturally, the Neptune fleet called for help and the Pluto Republic Space Navy answered the call with an attack force of three Kiev class battleships and eighteen of their new Petya Mark-II corvettes. The Earth fleet was warned off and an alliance was struck between Neptune and Pluto almost on the spot. Uranus, not wanting any of the Inner Sphere powers to attempt the same with them, requested to join the new political alliance and was immediately accepted.
                 The Pluto Libertarian Republic became the major supplier of military hardware for the Colonial Confederacy when they forged the foundation of the alliance in 2180 A.D.. They also sold many of their smaller and older Mark-III Ironclad designs to the Mars Defense Force, Neo-Hebrews of Saturn, and Jovian Federal Colonies. The trade between these powers and the Pluto Republic bolstered their technological capabilities and allowed for the creation of the Mark-IV Ironclads that fought in the Ceres Conflict, Outer Sphere War, and 2nd Interplanetary War.






Overview of THE URANUS THEOCRATIC REPUBLIC

                  Very little is known about how this colony was formed, but the records that have survived suggest that it was originally colonized by gas miners sometime in the 2170s. The surviving records recovered from the dome cities of the gas giant's moons indicate that the moons of Uranus (Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, and Puck) all had underground bases built on them. It is assumed that the UNSC constructed them under the direction of Premier Charles Dalltan to facilitate the extraction of fuel that he needed for the fleet his co-conspirators were building in the inner asteroid belt. However, there is no concrete evidence that this is the case. It was equally possible that this group was set up by Lady-Chairman Isabeau Furrier as part of her plan to ensure her vision of a new society would flourish and that she in fact used the Uranus mining colonies as a testing ground to see which type of government would flourish in space. We may never know for sure who settled the moons of Uranus, or who set up the twelve space stations in orbit around the ringed gas giant as fuel refineries. What is known is that nearly half a million "undesirables" from the Solar Empire were shipped off to these bases. These undesirables were the religious peoples of the Solar Empire who had been transported to the UNSC colonies from various countries of Earth during the 2140s and 2150s.
                  Life within the underground bases seemed to be comfortable enough for these early settlers. All manner of agricultural facilities were built under the surface of the moons, complete with artificial lighting and water recycling. However, much of their water supply was taken from the gas refineries as a by product of purification of fuels and necessary chemicals.
                  The Theocratic republic was founded in 2178 A.D. by Islamic and Eastern Orthodox Christian fundamentalists who had been exiled to the Uranus mining colonies prior to the outbreak of the 1st Interplanetary War. These people were viewed as intolerant by the Marxists, due to their beliefs (not that the Soviets of the Solar Empire were much better). Their strict adherence to the basic laws of the so called Hebrew God, found in the Christian bible, and the Koran, made them a perfect ally of the Neo-Hebrew colonies of Saturn. In fact, The Uranus Theocratic Republic became the primary supplier of radioactive fuels for the Neo-Hebrews during the 2180s. After the Uranus Theocratic Republic joined the Colonial Confederacy in 2180 A.D., it became a major asset militarily for the Colonial Confederacy and supplied them with most of their space marine recruits. The savage nature of the Uranus peoples made them natural fighters who would die for the cause of freedom from Inner Sphere control. They supplied most of the recruits for the Confederacy's campaigns against the USR and Principality of Altair during the Outer Sphere War, and 2nd Interplanetary War that came after. The peoples of the Uranus colonies also were handed the bases, space stations, and facilities of the Neo-Hebrews of Saturn after the Methuseians there had been completely transplanted to the Orion nebula in 2205 AD.
                  The Uranus Theocratic Republic became independent after the Colonial Confederacy fell apart in 2094.






Colonial Confederacy Combined FLEET 2179 TO 2185 (CLICK TO ENLARGE)